Bills release Spencer Long

[GunnerBill]

1 minute ago, Don Otreply said:

I hear ya, that’s why I said “okay” he certainly isn’t a top guy as it were, maybe they like him more as a back up center?? 

 

I think they love him because of his attitude and versatility. I am not sure they really know what his best position is. 

[MJS]

To me this means they are confident in Bates.

[Shaw66]

1 hour ago, NoSaint said:

 

 

never a fan of pulling the plug on serviceable guys before you absolutely have to

Two things about that. First, Beane knows how he wants to manage the roster.  He sees the same kind of potential need you do.  He just doesn't come here and explain the moves to us.  

 

Second, I dont remember the examples, but this isnt the first time he has let a vet go early so he has a better shot at catching on with another team.  I think Beane cultivates a reputation for being fair to his players. 

[ColoradoBills]

15 minutes ago, MJS said:

To me this means they are confident in Bates.

 

That may be true but I think people are overlooking the Evan Boehm signing.  He's a Center who can play Guard and was on

the Colts (started games at Center) when Bills OL Coach Bobby Johnson was there in 2018.

 

I think this must be factored into the Long release too.

[Back2Buff]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

Winters surely will cost more than Long would have.

 

Wouldn't be so sure of that.  Long was expected to make 3.074 and 4.5 million over the next two year.  I would think Winters is right around there.

 

 

[Doc]

Just now, Back2Buff said:

Wouldn't be so sure of that.  Long was expected to make 3.074 and 4.5 million over the next two year.  I would think Winters is right around there.

 

I believe it's a 1-year deal and Long wasn't going to see next year in Buffalo so anything over $3.1M...

[Back2Buff]

1 hour ago, eball said:

 

 

 

 

This is how completely unfounded rumors start.  Stop it.

 

 

 

 

lol, ok buddy.  I will sure stop because you told me to.

 

Please explain why they would cut Long now when they haven't even started camp yet and guys are going to get hurt?  The only reason to cut the guy now is to save money.  Don't give me the whole nonsense about letting him catch on to another team.  He doesn't need another team if he is on this team.

[NoSaint]

33 minutes ago, Shaw66 said:

Two things about that. First, Beane knows how he wants to manage the roster.  He sees the same kind of potential need you do.  He just doesn't come here and explain the moves to us.  

 

Second, I dont remember the examples, but this isnt the first time he has let a vet go early so he has a better shot at catching on with another team.  I think Beane cultivates a reputation for being fair to his players. 

first point- obviously. But we haven’t shut down the message board yet, so it’s still a spot to discuss different takes on the moves he makes.

 

second- fair approach but I think overrated in that unless you are constantly giving the spot to young/cheap guys last minute and obviously holding back bets you wouldn’t cultivate any reputation contrary to that. If we kept long 3 weeks and cut him then- would anyone have a negative impression? Obviously you don’t do a presser saying the jobs already won and he’s just an insurance policy ever.

Edited August 4, 2020 by NoSaint

[MJS]

23 minutes ago, Back2Buff said:

lol, ok buddy.  I will sure stop because you told me to.

 

Please explain why they would cut Long now when they haven't even started camp yet and guys are going to get hurt?  The only reason to cut the guy now is to save money.  Don't give me the whole nonsense about letting him catch on to another team.  He doesn't need another team if he is on this team.

Because they signed an olineman and Long was next on the list to get cut, I suppose. I don't think this was purely a money move. I think this was a "we want to keep the other guys more than Long" kind of move.

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

25 minutes ago, Back2Buff said:

 

 

lol, ok buddy.  I will sure stop because you told me to.

 

Please explain why they would cut Long now when they haven't even started camp yet and guys are going to get hurt?  The only reason to cut the guy now is to save money.  Don't give me the whole nonsense about letting him catch on to another team.  He doesn't need another team if he is on this team.

 

It is to save money.  Long played 16% of snaps on O and 13% of snaps on special teams.  He wasn't even the backup center, as they preferred feliciano kicking inside and playing him at RG.  They since signed Williams and Winters - who i assume they like better at RG.  

Edited August 4, 2020 by dneveu

[jwhit34]

I don't get all the angst. His pay was out of line with his potential role, so there is cap savings. Most importantly, if Winters is a done deal Long would have been at best the 10th best offensive lineman (Dawkins, Spain, Morse, Winters, Ford, Nsekhe, D. Williams, Bates, Boehm) and maybe a toss up with Boettger who is cheaper. I think there will be fewer cutdown day deals because of covid. 

 

The cap and roster management due to covid strategy outweighs the possibility of trading for a 6th or 7th, well done Beane. 

 

[Bleeding Bills Blue]

Just now, MJS said:

Because they signed an olineman and Long was next on the list to get cut, I suppose. I don't think this was purely a money move. I think this was a "we want to keep the other guys more than Long" kind of move.

 

Probably both tbh.  If they didn't like Long at center... he's deep on the depth chart at RG now.  So if they signed boehm to be the backup center, and may already have considered moving bates to center full time.  

 

Who knows - but i don't think Long was part of the plan when feliciano was healthy, and i don't think hes part of the plan now that they signed winters.

[eball]

1 hour ago, Back2Buff said:

 

 

lol, ok buddy.  I will sure stop because you told me to.

 

Please explain why they would cut Long now when they haven't even started camp yet and guys are going to get hurt?  The only reason to cut the guy now is to save money.  Don't give me the whole nonsense about letting him catch on to another team.  He doesn't need another team if he is on this team.

 

First of all, I'm not your buddy.  Second, they signed how many additional O-lineman since the end of last season, and are signing Winters also?  Did they do that because they were thrilled with Long?  Third, saving money against a cap that you know is going to shrink next year is not the same thing as a "mandate from upstairs."  The Bills are not the Sabres, and flaming fires that the Pegulas are meddling with a successful operation because they want to save a few bucks is the sort of irresponsible rumor-mongering that drives fans like me crazy.

[IgotBILLStopay]

2 hours ago, John from Riverside said:

I have heard the out of shape thing more then once in the thread.......how do we even know this?

FWIW, my comment was pure conjecture. My apologies if the post conveyed otherwise. I thought he played decently last year and given the Feliciano injury, had become even more important to the Bills plans. Basically I cant think of another reason to release him at this juncture - pre-release I had him pegged at #2 Center behind Morse - it might have been the 2.3 mill smackeroos - but while no chump change - it is still not ginormous. It might have been Bates or someone else climbing the depth chart - but the players have not really played football and are primarily doing conditioning work - so it seems reasonable that it may have been an "out of shape" issue like with Karlos Williams a few years ago.

Edited August 4, 2020 by IgotBILLStopay

[atlbillsfan1975]

31 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

So Bates or Bohem will be our starting C once Morse goes down? 

 

Yikes. Not a fan of this move. 

Wasn’t Long terrible at center for the Jets? Did Long play any snaps at center last year for the couple times Morse got dinged up? I thought Feliciano slid over to center every time. 

[billsfan89]

2 hours ago, Doc said:

 

As I said before, he might have demanded his release knowing he now probably had no shot at starting at RG and his days were likely numbered anyway.

 

That could be possible. If that is the case then there isn't much you can do. I do like that the team was aggressive to get Winters after Feliciano's injury. But it would have been nice to keep Long through camp.

[Kirby Jackson]

3 hours ago, NoSaint said:

or at least wait through opt outs and a bit of camp.

 

never a fan of pulling the plug on serviceable guys before you absolutely have to

 

that said, likely not the end of the world here 

Well said and that’s kind of the point that I was trying to make. I’d rather pull the plug on guy less likely to make the roster (or any NFL roster). Try to make a trade in the meantime (again don’t care which depth guys go on the OL) and then go back to 80. Release a guy like Webb or Easley or Woodward, etc...

3 hours ago, Mountain Man said:

You don't think the team might just have tried that route before they cut him? 

Bates. 

I don’t think that they did. I feel VERY confident that the Bills could have traded one of Boettger, Boehm, Long, Williams, Bates or Nsekhe. I would have started by trying to deal one of them. 

3 hours ago, Ed_Formerly_of_Roch said:

 

 

 

 

What changed is they want to sign Brian Winter,s but can't even bring him in for a physical without being down to 79 players, so they needed to let someone go.  Long saves almost $3mil, can use that towards signing Winters.  Probably with signing Winters, the need  for Long and his salary decreases.  The only risky part to me would be if Winters fails the physical. 

 

With the rules this year, may see alot of this.

The point remains though why not cut a guy that won’t end up on the roster (ie Easley)? 

[Kirby Jackson]

2 hours ago, Paup 1995MVP said:

Dumb decision??  We have the best GM in the league and you are bitching about cutting a backup O lineman.  Maybe they like Ike Boettgher a whole lot better, and at a much cheaper price.  Or any of the other dozen or so back up lineman we have.  Flipping backup O lineman for 6th or 7th round picks will not make or break the organization.  And we just brought in a starting RG from the Jets yesterday.  Beane knows whats up!!

I think Beane has done a phenomenal job. That does not mean I think that it’s perfect. It’s okay to disagree at times. Long played well and has the versatility to play center. That’s important with Feliciano out. He feels like the safest backup IOL. That’s why it’s a surprise. I would have tried to trade somebody first. The Bills have used those depth OL as basically compensatory picks. They had a chance, and still have a chance, to do that. They have the deepest OL in the league. I just don’t think that it’s wise to release solid depth at this point. 

[atlbillsfan1975]

13 minutes ago, ScottLaw said:

He did.

 

Felciano is probably out for the first 6 weeks at least. 

I get Feliciano is out. I think this move indicates  that the Bills didn’t like what little they saw of Long at center. At this point we are all drawing conclusions. As an old olineman I don’t think you can ever have enough around that have proven starting ability. I also trust the heck out of Beane. I don’t think Beane misses on to many player decisions. There could be a little more to this than we know. 

[Ed_Formerly_of_Roch]

6 minutes ago, Kirby Jackson said:

Well said and that’s kind of the point that I was trying to make. I’d rather pull the plug on guy less likely to make the roster (or any NFL roster). Try to make a trade in the meantime (again don’t care which depth guys go on the OL) and then go back to 80. Release a guy like Webb or Easley or Woodward, etc...

I don’t think that they did. I feel VERY confident that the Bills could have traded one of Boettger, Boehm, Long, Williams, Bates or Nsekhe. I would have started by trying to deal one of them. 

The point remains though why not cut a guy that won’t end up on the roster (ie Easley)? 

 

Well may have been they knew once they signed Winter, Long would be cut so did him a favor by letting him go now to try and hook up with another team.

 

Not so sure how many trades will happen this year.  It seems these new rules are geared towards less roster churn, thinking the less roster churn, lessens the chances of Covid coming in the door.  Can't trade for a draft pick without first cutting another player prior to making the trade. 

 

Will be interesting to see if overall much less trades at the end.  Even picking up players cut by teams when they get down to the final 53, will other teams sign someone for their PS or tend to keep their own.  Without pre-season games will be hard to evaluate other teams players anyway.